What sad news that was of our Beloved President’s death. They have caught the Assassin but I [am] sorry they could not have taken him alive. I would liked to have been where you were—then I could have seen him and all of those officers. We had quite a sad time in Corry. Almost every house & store were draped in mourning. They preached his funeral sermon. Elder Wilson and Elder Staples & Mr. Merrils and several others were the speakers. They had the sermon in the Baptist Church but there was not room for more than half of the people so they had speaking out doors also. They had their flag at half mast draped and a splendid banner [which read,] “To the memory of Abraham Lincoln” on one side & something else on the other side which I cannot remember now.

Four page letter written by a woman named "Alice" from Corry, Pennsylvania, to her friend, Cephas Warren Parker, who was serving in Co. G, 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery. Alice's letter implies that she was told by Parker that he had seen the body of Booth and several high-ranking Union officers. Military records indicate that Parker was assigned to the garrison at Fort Foote which was located on the east, or Maryland shore, of the Potomac opposite Alexandria, Virginia. Booth’s body was returned to the Naval Yard at Washington D. C. for an identification and autopsy. It’s possible, perhaps, that Parker either had the opportunity to witness the entourage that accompanied the body either at the Naval Yard or at the wharf near Fort Foote. The letter is in very fine condition with clear, legible ink handwriting.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] ] [Abolition][Slavery] [Abraham Lincoln] [John Wilkes Booth] [Slavery, Emancipation Proclamation, 13th Amendment]